Modern vehicle communication and/or computing systems are becoming increasingly capable of interaction with remote (i.e., not part of the vehicle computing system) devices. These devices range from, but are not limited to, cellular phones, pdas, GPS devices, remote servers, wireless routers, smartphones, medical devices, personal health and wellness devices, tablet PCs, laptops, etc.
In some instances, such as with the FORD SYNC system, a remote device may be used as an intermediary means of communication to send a signal to a remote network. Although the remote (or nomadic) device is used to send this signal, it may also be capable of further interaction with the vehicle computing system.
Through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), applications running on the nomadic device can interface with the vehicle computing system. For example, a program that selectively plays digital music on the nomadic device can be used to play music through the vehicle speaker system using an interface with the vehicle computing system.
Of course, when a person is driving a vehicle, it is safer to have as much of the driver interaction with devices be as hands-free as possible. Accordingly, the driver is able to interact with the vehicle computing system through the use of a microphone and voice-commands. This prevents, to a large extent, the driver from having to take focus from the road to activate a desired feature.
Similarly, interaction with the nomadic device may or may not be hands-free. Of course, if the driver is speaking commands to a plurality of devices, the devices themselves may be confused, not knowing which device the driver is addressing. Further, although there may be a particular nomadic device application the driver wishes to have interact with the vehicle, the application may not be able to interact with the vehicle until the driver actually activates the application on the nomadic device.
On certain nomadic devices, applications are running in a background layer constantly (at least in part), whereas in other devices, the applications may need to be activated. If there is no option to activate an application hands-free on the device, the driver may need to take focus from the road and manually access the desired application to activate it for interaction with the vehicle computing system.